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Newsgroups and Downloading 101

Discussion in 'Gaming Forum' started by mor911, Jun 29, 2009.

  1. mor911

    mor911 pooping

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    Well... I've answered countless PMs in the last few weeks about this subject. So being that it isn't illegal, i figured I'll make a thread on the subject. This is a method of communicating with people via usenet. How you use it is up to you.

    It's very simple. newsgroups are groups of internet losers that post information and attachments based on similar interests. It can get crazy, but there's tons of stuff out there to make it simple. There's a few things you need.

    1. Usenet access - I use newsdemon. They run about $20 per month and they have very good retention. You'll here the word "retention" thrown around when looking for a usenet provider. Cheaper ones have less retention. Essentially, retention is how long they will story the stuff that has been posted to usenet. This makes more sense later. The biggest name in the newsgroup industry is giganews. The most expensive too (but good 1st month deals if you wanna try em). They're worth it imo because their retention is ridiculous.

    Giganews - http://www.giganews.com/

    Newsdemon - http://www.newsdemon.com/

    2. Usenet client - There's tons of programs that will pull news from usenet server... Even Outlook does it (but is TERRIBLE at it). I use GrabIt (by Sheems i think). It's free and it downloads, tracks, and even fixes, and decompresses. Setup is simple. Install the app and enter the usename and password that your provider gave you. Tada!

    GrabIt Download - http://www.shemes.com/index.php?p=download

    3. NZB files
    - And .nzb file is a small table file that contains news listings for a specific item. There's tons of sites that simply track NZB files as well as database them for easy searching. newzleech.com is one of my favs. There's also forums like filesharingtalk.com that has an entire forum dedicated to people posting NZB files of new releases.

    Newzleech - http://newzleech.com/

    NZBs R Us - http://www.nzbsrus.com/nzbbrowse.php

    Binsearch - http://www.binsearch.info/

    File Sharing Talk Forums (NZB Index) - http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/nzbindex.php

    The process

    Go to your favorite NZB site, and find the completely legal item you want to download.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    You click the button to download the NZB and tell windows to open it (GrabIt should be the default app to launch NZBs - if it isn't, set it to be).
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    GrabIt should launch and begin pulling the items down.
    [​IMG]

    After the legal items are downloaded, GrabIt even fixes it (if needed or able too) and decompresses it. Go to the designated download folder (which you can specify in settings) and enjoy your completely legal stuff.
    [​IMG]

    This is a basic tutorial. Feel free to post questions. I hope this helps some of you out. This might look terribly familiar to some of the people I've been helping via PMs.
     
    Bpk, #1 fan, TJamesW_Phinfan and 5 others like this.
  2. anlgp

    anlgp ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

    How is this different from torrent file sharing enough to make it legal?

    I understand the logistics of how to download things like this but not what makes it legal.
     
  3. mor911

    mor911 pooping

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    Well.. Using usenet is not illegal. Accessing newsgroups is not illegal. Scientific communities in everything from historians to astrologists use it as a method to share information around the world.

    Some people use it to share games, movies, and music. I am not showing you how to do that. I'm just showing how to access usenet.
     
    siciliansith and anlgp like this.
  4. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    I'd say it's familiar. :lol:
     
  5. Phin-o-rama

    Phin-o-rama Well-Known Member

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    grabit + giga works for me :yes:
     
  6. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    Maybe I'll get into giganews come the new year. :shifty:
     
  7. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

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    Newsleecher is a nice program for searching and downloading. I've used it and Giganews for years.

    Nothing like downloading as fast as your internet connection will go.
     
  8. sking29

    sking29 What it takes to be cool

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    This all is very tempting to me. :yes:
     
  9. DaFish

    DaFish Well-Known Member

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    I have been thinking of going this route as well. I have used a couple of services in the past and the speed is crazy.

    I also loved Mor's completely legal screen shots!:lol:
     
  10. slickj101

    slickj101 Is Water

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    Signed up for newsdemon and downloaded grabit. I'm using newsleech but when I try to download my legal items in grabit, I only get "unable to connect".

    I duno wtf I'm doing wrong here.
     
  11. xer0

    xer0 xD

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    Good write up...very easy to follow.

    I use Astraweb currently. Great speed and good retention and I just pay $25 for every 180GB worth of data that I download through their server. I like not having to pay monthly seeing as there are some months where I may not use newsgroups at all.
     
    DaFish likes this.
  12. TJamesW_Phinfan

    TJamesW_Phinfan New Member

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    You get that kind of speed from them consistantly?
     
  13. Springveldt

    Springveldt Season Ticket Holder

    After using Giganews for 5 years I plucked up the courage to change to http://www.astraweb.com as they have 365 days retention as well and it's only $11 a month for unlimited usage. SSL is even thrown in for free. Been using it for 3 months now and never had a problem with it. I was paying $25 a month to Giga, Astra is less than half the price and so far the service has been the exact same as Giga.
    Oh, the $11 a month is a special offer need to go here to get it...
    http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html

    For clients I'd agree GrabIt is excellent. Really simple to use and free to boot.

    Another good site for nzb's is http://www.nzbindex.com
    Their search engine seems to be better than binsearch.info as nzbindex usually finds stuff for me that binsearch doesn't. Maybe binsearch need to fix their LIKE filter. :)
     
    #1 fan and mor911 like this.
  14. #1 fan

    #1 fan Well-Known Member

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    i had to enter my server name in grabit before it was able to connect. i'm at work now, but something like: news.astraweb.whatever


    i just signed up for astraweb and i'm getting 764 kb/s. an 8gb file took 3 hours and change.
     
    TJamesW_Phinfan likes this.
  15. DaFish

    DaFish Well-Known Member

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    This sounds like me. I think I will be signing up for this as soon as I get home today. My downloading habits change from month to month depending on whats available. Thanks for this info. You made my day.

    Edit: And they take PayPal!!
     
  16. Phinz420

    Phinz420 New Member

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    I still have yet to run into a situation where I can't get what I need from torrent searches. I use Demonoid & TPB running Utorrent. Its easy, its free, and many people in "the scene" despise it. Giving all the more reason to enjoy their leaked files. :lol:
     
  17. mor911

    mor911 pooping

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    i hate hate hate having to maintain a ratio... That's not an issue on the TPB, but then your privacy is. I dunno
     
  18. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    Interesting. I use bitcomet and torrents to download without a monthly cost.

    What is it about Newsgoups/Usenet that makes it better and worth paying for?
     
  19. Phinz420

    Phinz420 New Member

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    Demonoid doesn't enforce a ratio, though it does show it in your profile.

    Id say the biggest issues with TPB is probably viruses & fake torrents. I never download brand new torrents for that reason, scan through the comments & always look for the VIP uploads first.
     
    Bpk likes this.
  20. TJamesW_Phinfan

    TJamesW_Phinfan New Member

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    Just set up astraweb and grabit and it is kicking butt. Thanks all for the info in this thread.

    :up:
     
    Bpk likes this.
  21. finsincebirth

    finsincebirth Well-Known Member

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    Now lets say that I want to create a backup of a file using imagine burn. The file that grab it downloaded has several different files. Do I just burn all the files onto the disc or is there a certain file that is only important. I don't fully understand how grab it partitions everything.
     
  22. DaFish

    DaFish Well-Known Member

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    That's what I am talking about!!!!!!

    [​IMG][/IMG]
     
  23. Phin-o-rama

    Phin-o-rama Well-Known Member

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    Newsgroups ftw.
     
  24. DaFish

    DaFish Well-Known Member

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    I just found this deal for astraweb if anyone has been looking for cheap usenet access. SSL is included on all accounts as well.

    http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html

    Unlimited DSL Plan Special Offer - No Setup Fees


    Unlimited DSL - US$ 11 every month
    No Speed Limits
    No Download Limits
    Exactly the same as Unlimited DSL Plan
    You will pay $11 for every month as long as your subscription remains active. We will not raise the price.
     

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